On Baseball; Let's Make a Deal: The Ball Goes to the Hall

A year and a half after Keith Foulke fielded Édgar Rentería's grounder and threw to Doug Mientkiewicz for the out that gave the Boston Red Sox their first World Series championship since 1918, the dispute over ownership of the baseball has been resolved.

Through an agreement reached by Mientkiewicz, the Red Sox, the players union and Major League Baseball, the baseball is going to the Hall of Fame.

When the Kansas City Royals were in New York recently, Mientkiewicz indicated that the most controversial baseball in recent times was headed to the Hall of Fame, and on Friday Michael Weiner, the union's general counsel, confirmed the agreement in principle.

Mientkiewicz, two teams removed from the Red Sox, would not say much when asked about the ball. "I've been told to keep it hush-hush, but that's the final destination -- the Hall of Fame," he said.

The baseball, with Commissioner Bud Selig's name on it, was briefly the subject of a lawsuit, showing how absurd the matter became.

"I wasn't suing anybody," Mientkiewicz said. "I was never uncordial to anyone. I was willing to talk to anybody. Once it's all said and done, I'll have a chance to talk about it."

Initially, the Red Sox were not aware of the ball's location. It was only after reading a column in The Boston Globe and learning that Mientkiewicz had it that they demanded he return it.

Their claim of ownership was highly questionable. The commissioner's office supplied it, and the game was not played at Fenway Park. It was in St. Louis. Selig did not want the used ball back, and the Cardinals certainly did not want it as a reminder of their ignominious sweep by the Red Sox. Based on precedent, Mientkiewicz had every right to the ball.

The last time the Red Sox had been in the World Series, 1986, an infamous ball, the one Mookie Wilson hit that rolled between Bill Buckner's legs, lay unwanted on the outfield grass at Shea Stadium.

An umpire picked it up and gave it to Arthur Richman, a Mets official, who later sold it at auction. The Red Sox, under a different ownership, did not claim ownership of that ball.

The Red Sox were so determined to wrest the 2004 ball from Mientkiewicz that they sued him for it, even though he had agreed to let them have it for a year to display at Fenway or wherever they desired.

John Fabiano, a Boston lawyer acting on behalf of the Red Sox, filed the lawsuit in Suffolk County (Mass.) civil court on Nov. 30, 2005. A few days later, he said last week, he filed another paper withdrawing the suit.

"The parties agreed to go through the regular grievance procedure," Fabiano said. "I didn't make the decision to submit it to the grievance procedure. They decided to go to arbitration."

The case was shifted to arbitration because the Red Sox realized that whatever claim they had, if any, they had to make it in the grievance procedure. If they had not, the union was prepared to go to court to make that argument. A meeting between union and baseball lawyers in January led to the eventual resolution.

Mientkiewicz was the one who suggested the ball go to the Hall of Fame, a move that surprised the Red Sox, who were apparently convinced that he wanted to keep the ball and eventually sell it.

"It's been blown way out of proportion," Mientkiewicz said. He can say that again.